Cover with elastic portion for bar-type portable terminal device

ABSTRACT

Provided is a bar-type portable terminal device cover having an elastic portion, which is capable of achieving, due to the provision of an elastic portion, convenient detachability of the cover while providing a streamlined configuration to allow complete protective surrounding of device corners by corner portions of the cover to thereby exclude the formation of cut grooves responsible for contamination risk, and which is also capable of significantly improving quality of the product due to having improved device protective performance and elegant external appearance.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This non-provisional application claims priority under 35 USC Section 119 from Korean Patent Application No. 10-2008-0045618, filed on May 16, 2008, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a cover of a bar-type portable terminal device having an elastic portion, which is capable of conveniently detaching itself from the device, and which is also capable of significantly improving quality of the device in protective performance and elegant external appearance.

2. Description of the Related Art

Portable terminal devices, such as mobile phones, portable game machines, and the like, are quickly taking a position as living necessaries of modern people who desire to enjoy wireless communication services. Diverse types of terminal devices have been developed to keep pace with consumer's preference which is highly susceptible to functions of the device as well as latest fashion trends of external appearance.

The portable terminal equipment may be broadly classified into a folder type, a flip-up type, a sliding type, a swing type, a combination thereof, and a bar type, depending on connection types of a main body with a display and opening/closing manners of devices. The portable terminal devices are usually provided with a cover having a combination of a protective function and a decorative function.

The cover for the portable terminal device is structurally configured to protectively surround the device while not covering a display part thereof. The cover is required to be easily removable for replacement and reformation of the cover, because it is highly vulnerable to the latest trends in fashion.

Meanwhile, the bar-type portable terminal device where a display panel is connected to a front side of the main body has been recently developed toward a slimmer size and a rounded design of corners and peripheral lateral sides of the device.

Such a bar-type portable terminal device cover, unlike any portable terminal device cover consisting of a front cover and a rear cover, is configured to have a monolithic structure that protectively surrounds the rear side and peripheral lateral sides of the device, except that the front side on which a display panel is positioned is open. For example, a conventional art relating to such a type of cover is disclosed in Korean Utility Model No. 20-0437885.

Referring to FIG. 13, the conventional art cover 100 is provided with formation of elastic grooves 120 in corner portions 131 of side walls 130, whereby the corner portions can be flexibly bent from a main body 110 such that the cover is easily removable from the device.

Unfortunately, the conventional art cover 100 suffers from disadvantages in that contamination may occur due to invasion and sticking of foreign materials into apertures defined by formation of the grooves 120 in the corner portions and consequently the external appearance may be deteriorated.

Further, the corners of the portable terminal device are partially exposed to the outside due to formation of the grooves 120, so this may result in damage of the device which consequently leads to deterioration of device protective properties, when impact is externally applied to the exposed region.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Therefore, the present invention has been made in view of the above problems, and it is an object of the present invention to provide a cover of a bar-type portable terminal device having an elastic portion, which is capable of achieving, due to the provision of an elastic portion, convenient detachability of the cover while providing a streamlined configuration to allow complete protective surrounding of device corners by corner portions of the cover to thereby exclude the formation of cut grooves responsible for contamination risk, and which is also capable of significantly improving quality of the product due to having improved device protective performance and elegant external appearance.

In accordance with the present invention, the above and other objects can be accomplished by the provision of a cover of a bar-type portable terminal device having an elastic portion, which is configured to have a structure surrounding rear and lateral sides of a device and which comprises:

a main body in contact with a rear side of a device, side walls for surrounding both lateral sides of the device, an upper side wall for surrounding one part of a upper side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; a lower side wall for surrounding one part of a lower side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; an elastic portion provided between the main body and the both side walls or at the center of the main body, and rounded corner portions for surrounding corners of the device formed on the side walls, extending at both ends of the lengthwise direction, and being oriented its one side into a center of a widthwise direction, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward such that it can be flexibly bent from the main body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and other advantages of the present invention will be more clearly understood from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a construction of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view illustrating use state of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment corresponding to FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view illustrating an operation state of an elastic portion;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view taken along line B-B of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 10 is a plan view of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 12 is a cross-sectional view taken along line C-C of FIG. 11; and

FIG. 13 is a view illustrating a configuration diagram of conventional art.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, a cover of a bar-type portable terminal device having an elastic portion in accordance with the present invention will be described in more detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating a construction of one embodiment in accordance with the present invention, FIG. 2 is a view illustrating use state of FIG. 1, FIG. 3 is a plan view of FIG. 1, FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view taken along line A-A of FIG. 3, and FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view of another embodiment corresponding to FIG. 4.

As shown in FIGS. 1 through 5, a bar-type portable terminal device cover 1 having an elastic portion in accordance with one embodiment of the present invention is configured to have a structure surrounding rear and lateral sides of a device and comprises:

a main body 10 in contact with a rear side of a device 2, side walls 30 for surrounding both lateral sides of the device, an upper side wall 40 for surrounding one part of a upper side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls, a lower side wall 50 for surrounding one part of a lower side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls, an elastic portion 20 provided between the main body 10 and the both side walls 30 or at the center of the main body 10, and rounded corner portions 31 for surrounding corners of the device formed on the side walls 30, extending at both ends of the lengthwise direction, and being oriented its one side into a center of a widthwise direction, wherein the elastic portion 20 is formed inward such that it can be flexibly bent from the main body 10.

Preferably, the main body 10, the elastic portion 20 and the side wall 30 are provided with formation of curved lengthwise ends 1 a, and the side walls 30 are provided with a center portion 30 a having a convex curved surface as viewed in cross-section. The elastic portion 20 is formed to have a “]”-shaped or “V”-shaped groove which is formed on either or both of an inner surface 1 b and an outer surface 1 c.

The upper side wall 40 of the main body 10 surrounds one part of the upper side of the device, and the upper part of the upper side wall 40 corresponding to the upper part of the side walls is opened.

The upper side wall 40 of the main body 10 not surrounds all surface of the upper side of the device but only one part of the surface.

The lower side wall 50 of the main body 10 surrounds one part of the lower side of the device, and the upper part of the lower side wall 50 corresponding to the upper part of the side walls is opened.

Therefore, the lower side wall 50 of the main body 10 not surrounds all surface of the upper side of the device but only one part of the surface.

When the elastic portion 20 has a “]”-shape, both sides thereof are formed to have inclined portions 22. FIG. 4 shows the elastic portion 20 which was formed inward at the inner surface 1 b, whereas FIG. 5 shows the elastic portion 20 which was formed inward at both the inner surface 1 b and outer surface 1 c.

Preferably, the elastic portion 20 is formed in the form of a valley between the main body 10 and the side walls 30 (see FIGS. 1 to 6) or at the center of the main body (see FIGS. 7 and 8) parallel to the lengthwise direction.

In one embodiment of the present invention, the elastic portion 20 may be recessively formed in the form of a valley parallel to the lengthwise and widthwise directions with respect to the main body 10 and the side walls 30 (see FIG. 9). Alternatively, the elastic portion 20 may also be formed in the form of a “L”-shaped valley that surrounds the corner portions (see FIG. 10).

In one embodiment of the present invention, the elastic portion 20 may be formed to have an inward step from the body 10, and the side walls 30 may be formed with the same thickness integrally with the elastic portion 20 (see FIGS. 11 and 12). Among non-described reference numerals, t1, t2 and t3 represent a thickness of the main body, a thickness of the elastic portion, and a thickness of the side wall, respectively.

Preferably, the corner portions 31 are formed to have a semi-circular curved surface in conformance with the corners of the device.

The corner portions 31 are extended at both ends of the lengthwise direction, and one side of corner portions 31 is oriented into a center of a widthwise direction.

When the elastic portion 20 is formed between the main body and the side walls, a thickness (t2) of the elastic portion is preferably thinner than a thickness (t1) of the main body.

Now, operation of the bar-type portable terminal device cover 1 having an elastic portion in accordance with the present invention will be illustrated.

According to the present invention, flexible formation of the elastic portion 20 between the main body 10 and the side walls 30 enables easy and convenient attachment/detachment between the cover and the device, even when the portion is formed integrally with the corner portions 31 of a semi-circular curved surface formed to completely surround the device corners on the side walls 30.

That is, the thickness-defining elastic portion 20 in the form of a valley between the main body 10 and the side walls 30 serves as a portion which allows for temporary bending flexure of the side walls 30 (see FIG. 6).

Due to the provision of the elastic portion 20, the present invention is configured to secure complete wrapping of the device corners by the corner portions 31 while providing free detachability of the cover from the device and is therefore capable of significantly improving protection of the device due to enhanced buffering performance, even when the corner portions are exposed to external impact.

Further, the present invention is capable of avoiding potential device contamination due to exclusion of the grooves causing some problems in the conventional art and is capable of achieving beautiful and refined appearance with continuity of the apparently smooth curved surface. As a result, it is possible to achieve high quality of beauty-oriented products that attach importance to beauty.

As apparent from the above description, the bar-type portable terminal device cover having an elastic portion is capable of achieving, due to the provision of an elastic portion, convenient detachability of the cover while providing a streamlined configuration to allow complete protective surrounding of device corners by corner portions of the cover to thereby exclude the formation of cut grooves responsible for contamination risk, and is also capable of significantly improving quality of the product due to having improved device protective performance and elegant external appearance.

Although the preferred embodiments of the present invention have been disclosed for illustrative purposes, those skilled in the art will appreciate that various modifications, additions and substitutions are possible, without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention as disclosed in the accompanying claims. 

1. A cover of a bar-type portable terminal device having an elastic portion, which is configured to have a structure surrounding rear and lateral sides of a device and which comprise: a main body having a thickness in contact with a rear side of a device; side walls for surrounding both lateral sides of the device; an upper side wall for surrounding one part of a upper side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; a lower side wall for surrounding one part of a lower side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; an elastic portion provided between the main body and the both side walls or at the center of the main body; and rounded corner portions for surrounding corners of the device formed on the side walls, extending at both ends of the lengthwise direction, and being oriented its one side into a center of a widthwise direction, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward and has a thickness that is thinner than the thickness of the main body such that it can be flexibly bent from the main body.
 2. The cover according to claim 1, wherein the main body, the elastic portion and the side wall are provided with formation of curved lengthwise ends, and the side walls are provided with a center portion having a convex curved surface as viewed in cross-section.
 3. The cover according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion is formed to have a “]”-shaped or “V”-shaped groove which is formed on either or both of an inner surface and an outer surface of elastic portion.
 4. The cover according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the elastic portion is recessively formed in the form of a valley between the main body and the side walls or at the center of the main body parallel to the lengthwise direction.
 5. The cover according to claim 1 or 3, wherein the elastic portion is formed in the form of a valley between the main body and the side walls parallel to the lengthwise and widthwise directions, or the elastic portion is formed in the form of a “L”-shaped valley that surrounds the corner portions.
 6. The cover according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the elastic portion is formed to have an inward step from the body, and the side wall has a thickness thinner than or equal to that of the elastic portion and is formed integrally therewith.
 7. The cover according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward at an inner surface of the main body.
 8. The cover according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward at both an inner and an outer surface of the main body.
 9. The cover according to claim 3, wherein the elastic portion is a “]”-shaped groove with inclined portions relative to an inner surface of the main body.
 10. The cover according to claim 1, wherein the elastic portion comprises an inwardly formed groove continuously extending from one end of the main body to another end of the main body.
 11. The cover according to claim 10, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward at an inner surface of the main body.
 12. The cover according to claim 11, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward at both an inner and an outer surface of the main body.
 13. A cover of a bar-type portable terminal device having an elastic portion, which is configured to have a structure surrounding rear and lateral sides of a device and which comprise: a main body in contact with a rear side of a device; side walls for surrounding both lateral sides of the device; an upper side wall for surrounding one part of a upper side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; a lower side wall for surrounding one part of a lower side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; an elastic portion provided between the main body and the both side walls or at the center of the main body; and rounded corner portions for surrounding corners of the device formed on the side walls, extending at both ends of the lengthwise direction, and being oriented its one side into a center of a widthwise direction, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward such that it can be flexibly bent from the main body and is formed to have a “]”-shaped or “V”-shaped groove which is formed on either an inner surface or both of an inner surface and an outer surface of elastic portion.
 14. A cover of a bar-type portable terminal device having an elastic portion, which is configured to have a structure surrounding rear and lateral sides of a device and which comprise: a main body in contact with a rear side of a device; side walls for surrounding both lateral sides of the device; an upper side wall for surrounding one part of a upper side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; a lower side wall for surrounding one part of a lower side of the device and being opened its upper part corresponding to a upper part of the side walls; an elastic portion provided between the main body and the both side walls or at the center of the main body; and rounded corner portions for surrounding corners of the device formed on the side walls, extending at both ends of the lengthwise direction, and being oriented its one side into a center of a widthwise direction, wherein the elastic portion is formed inward such that it can be flexibly bent from the main body and wherein the elastic portion is formed to have an inward step from the body, and the side wall has a thickness thinner than or equal to that of the elastic portion and is formed integrally therewith.
 15. The cover according to claim 14, wherein the main body, the elastic portion and the side wall are provided with formation of curved lengthwise ends, and the side walls are provided with a center portion having a convex curved surface as viewed in cross-section.
 16. The cover according to claim 14, wherein the elastic portion is formed to have a “]”-shaped or “V”-shaped groove which is formed on either or both of an inner surface and an outer surface of elastic portion.
 17. The cover according to claim 14 or 16, wherein the elastic portion is recessively formed in the form of a valley between the main body and the side walls or at the center of the main body parallel to the lengthwise direction.
 18. The cover according to claim 14 or 16, wherein the elastic portion is formed in the form of a valley between the main body and the side walls parallel to the lengthwise and widthwise directions, or the elastic portion is formed in the form of a “L”-shaped valley that surrounds the corner portions.
 19. The cover according to claim 16, wherein the elastic portion is formed to have a “]”-shaped or “V”-shaped groove which is formed on both of an inner surface and an outer surface of elastic portion.
 20. The cover according to claim 16, wherein the elastic portion is formed to have a “]”-shaped or “V”-shaped groove which is formed on an inner surface of elastic portion. 